From the Superintendent

3/31/2014

Colleagues:

The next Straight A Fund grant application period is April 4-18, with $150 million up for distribution. Now that districts have the experience of the first round of applications under their belts, I look forward to seeing even more innovative proposals in the next round to improve student learning.

There are some changes to the Straight A Fund application and review process as a result of House Bill 342. These changes will affect the second round application and grant-awarding process, as well as the timeline.

Here are some highlights of those changes:

The highest scoring applications will still be reviewed by the Governing Board, but when two or more applicants’ proposals receive similar scores, the Governing Board will award grants to applicants that demonstrate cost savings over applicants that do not.

An individual district that applies with or without university or private industry partners can request only $1 million instead of the $5 million for which they were eligible in the first round of grants. Consortia of schools, school districts and educational service centers can still apply for up to $15 million.

An educational service center will now be able to lead a consortium, but at least one of the center’s client school districts must also be a consortium member.

The Straight A Governing Board will have 90 days instead of 75 to review and award grants.

House Bill 342 also slightly expands the second goal of the Straight A Fund, and it adds a fourth goal: to increase the use of district shared services agreements.

Before preparing your application, be sure to listen to this webcast that covers all of the changes.

There will never be a better opportunity for Ohio to turn up the heat on innovation than the Straight A Fund. Get your local team together and start working so that when the application period opens, you can show us your best ideas.